Programming with

Microsoft Visual Basic 2010

5th Edition
Chapter Three
Using Variables and Constants
 Previewing the Modified
Playtime Cellular Application
Previewing the Playtime Cellular application
Access Run command on Start menu
Browse to VB2010\Chap03 folder
Click the Playtime Cellular (Playtime
Cellular.exe) file
View order form
Enter customer information from pages
119-120
Completed application resembles Chapter 2
version

2
 Figure 3-2 Completed order form

3
 Lesson A Objectives
After studying Lesson A, you should be able
to:
Declare variables and named constants
Assign data to an existing variable
Convert string data to a numeric data type
using the TryParse method
Convert numeric data to a different data
type using the Convert class methods

4
 Lesson A Objectives (cont’d.)
Explain the scope and lifetime of variables
and named constants
Explain the purpose of the Option Explicit,
Option Infer, and Option Strict

5
 Using Variables to Store
Information
Controls and variables temporarily store data
Variable: Temporary storage location in
main memory
Specified by data type, name, scope, and
lifetime
Reasons to use variables
Hold information that is not stored in control
on form
Allow for more precise treatment of numeric
data
Enable code to run more efficiently

6
 Using Variables to Store
Information (cont’d.)
Selecting a data type for a variable
Data type: Specifies type of data a variable
can store
Provides a class template for creating
variables
Unicode
Universal coding scheme for characters
Assigns unique numeric value to each
character in the written languages of the
world

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 Figure 3-3
Basic data types in
Visual Basic

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 Using Variables to Store
Information (cont’d.)
For this course:
Use Integer data type for all integers
Use either Decimal or Double data type for
numbers containing decimal places or
numbers used in calculations
Use String data type for text or numbers not
used in calculations
Use Boolean data type for Boolean values

9
 Using Variables to Store
Information (cont’d.)
Selecting a name for a variable
Variables are referred to by name
Identifier: Another term for variable name
Guidelines for naming variables
Use Hungarian notation, with a three-
character prefix representing the variable’s
data type
Name should be descriptive: e.g., dblLength
Use camel case: e.g., dblSalesAmount
Must follow variable naming rules

10
 Figure 3-4 Variable naming rules and examples

11
 Using Variables to Store
Information (cont’d.)
Declaring a variable
Declaration statement: Used to declare (create)
a variable and reserve space in memory for it
Syntax shown in Figure 3-5 on next slide
If no initial value is given to variable when
declaring it, computer stores default value
Numeric variables are set to 0
Boolean variables are set to False
Object and String variables are set to Nothing
Date variables are set to 1/1/0001 12:00:00AM

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 Figure 3-5 Syntax and examples of a variable declaration statement
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 Assigning Data to an Existing
Variable
Assignment statement: Assigns value to
variable at run time
Syntax: variablename = expression
Expression may include literal constants,
object properties, variables, keywords,
arithmetic operators
Literal constant
Data item whose value does not change
Example: The string “Mary”
Literal type character
Forces literal constant to change data type

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 Figure 3-6 Assignment statements in which the value’s data
type matches the variable’s data type
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 Assigning Data to an Existing
Variable (cont’d.)
TryParse method: Converts string to
number
TryParse is preferred over Val
Allows programmer to specify data type
Val only returns a type Double value
Syntax shown in Figure 3-7 on next slide
dataType: Numeric data type, such as Integer
string : String to be converted
variable : Variable that receives the numeric
value

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 Figure 3-7 Basic syntax and examples of the TryParse method

17
 Assigning Data to an Existing
Variable (cont’d.)
Convert class: Can be used to convert a
number from one type to another
Syntax shown in Figure 3-9 on next slide
– Convert: Name of class
– method: Converts value to specified data
type
– value: Numeric data to be converted
TryParse is recommended for converting
strings to numeric data types
Will not produce an error if conversion fails

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 Figure 3-9 Syntax and examples of the Convert class methods

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 The Scope and Lifetime of a
Variable
Scope: Indicates where variable can be used
Lifetime: How long variable remains in memory
Scope and lifetime are determined by where
variable is declared
Three types of scope
Class: Variable can be used by all procedures in a
form
Procedure: Variable can be used within procedure
Block: Variable can be used within specific code
block

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 The Scope and Lifetime of a
Variable (cont’d.)
Variables with procedure scope
Can be used only by that procedure
Declared at beginning of procedure
Removed from memory when procedure ends
Declared using Dim keyword
Most variables used in this course will be
procedure-level variables
Sales tax example UI and code given on
following slides illustrate use of procedure
variables

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 The Scope and Lifetime of a
Variable (cont’d.)

Figure 3-10 User interface for the Sales Tax Calculator application

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 Figure 3-11
Click event
procedures using
procedure-level
variables

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 The Scope and Lifetime of a
Variable (cont’d.)
Variables with class scope
Can be used by all procedures in a form
Declared in form’s Declarations section
Remain in memory until application ends
Declared using Private keyword
Total Sales example UI and code given on
following slides illustrate use of class-level
variables

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 The Scope and Lifetime of a
Variable (cont’d.)

Figure 3-12 User interface for the Total Sales application

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 Figure 3-13 Code using a class-level variable

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 Static Variables
Static variable: Procedure-level variable
with extended lifetime
Remains in memory between procedure calls
Retains its value even when the procedure
ends
Static keyword: Used to declare static
variable
Static variables act like class-level variables
but have narrower scope
Can only be used within procedure where
declared

27
 Figure 3-14 Code using a static variable

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 Named Constants
Named constant
Memory location inside computer whose
contents cannot be changed at run time
Const statement: Creates named constant
Stores value of expression in named constant
expression: Can be literal constant, another
named constant, or an arithmetic operator
Cannot contain a variable or method
Syntax and examples shown in Figure 3-15
on next slide

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 Figure 3-15 Syntax and examples of the Const statement

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 Figure 3-16 User interface for the Area Calculator application

Figure 3-17 Calculate Area button’s Click event procedure

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 Option Explicit, Option Infer, and
Option Strict
Option Explicit On statement
Prevents you from using undeclared variables
Implicit type conversion: Converts right-
side value to the data type of left side
Promotion
 Data converted to greater precision number
 e.g., Integer to Decimal
Demotion
 Data truncated
 e.g., Decimal to Integer
 Data loss can occur when demotion occurs

32
 Option Explicit, Option Infer, and
Option Strict (cont’d.)
Option Infer Off statement:
Ensures that every variable is declared with a
data type
Option Strict On statement:
Disallows implicit conversions
Type conversion rules are applied when this
option is on
Figure 3-18 on following slide contains
examples

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 Figure 3-18 Rules and examples of type conversions
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 Option Explicit, Option Infer, and
Option Strict (cont’d.)

Figure 3-19 Option statements entered in the General Declarations section

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 Lesson A Summary
Declare a variable using {Dim | Private |
Static}
Assignment statement: Assigns value to a
variable
Three levels of scope: Block, procedure, class
TryParse () converts strings to numeric data
Use Const to declare a named constant
Avoid programming errors by using Option
Explicit On, Option Infer Off, and Option
Strict On

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 Lesson B Objectives
After studying Lesson B, you should be able
to:
Include procedure-level and class-level
variables in an application
Concatenate strings
Get user input using the InputBox function
Include the ControlChars.NewLine
constant in code
Designate the default button for a form
Format numbers using the ToString method

37
 Modifying the Playtime Cellular
Application
Modifications needed:
Calculate and display the sales tax
Display salesperson name
Revise the TOE chart to reflect the new
tasks
Must modify btnCalc button’s Click event
and the form’s Load event

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 Figure 3-20 Revised TOE chart for the Playtime Cellular application

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 Modifying the Calculate Order
Button’s Code
General strategy
Remove existing code from Click event procedure
Recode the procedure using variables in equations
Use Option Explicit On statement
Enforces full variable declaration
Use Option Infer Off statement
Enforces that variables are declared with data
types
Use Option Strict On statement
Suppresses implicit type conversions

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 Figure 3-22 Jagged blue lines indicate errors in the statements

Figure 3-23 Lines to delete from the procedure

41
 Modifying the Calculate Order
Button’s Code (cont’d.)

Figure 3-24 Revised pseudocode for the btnCalc control’s Click event procedure

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 Modifying the Calculate Order
Button’s Code (cont’d.)

Figure 3-25 List of named constants and variables

43
 Modifying the Calculate Order
Button’s Code (cont’d.)

Figure 3-26 Const and Dim statements entered in the procedure

44
 Figure 3-27
Code entered in the
btnCalc control’s Click
event procedure

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 Concatenating Strings
Concatenate: Connect strings together
Concatenation operator: Ampersand (&)
Include space before and after & operator
Numeric values used with the & operator
are converted to strings

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 Concatenating Strings
(cont’d.)

Figure 3-29 Examples of string concatenation

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 The InputBox Function
InputBox function
Displays dialog box and retrieves user input
Arguments
prompt: Message to display inside dialog box
title: Text to display in the dialog box’s title
bar
defaultResponse: Text to be displayed in the
input field
Returned value most often assigned to String
variable
Syntax shown in Figure 3-33 on next slide

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 Figure 3-33
Basic syntax and examples of
the InputBox function

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 The ControlChars.Newline
Constant
ControlChars.NewLine constant
Advances the insertion point to the next line
in a control
Also used to advance insertion point in file or
on printer
To use, type ControlChars.NewLine at
appropriate location
Can be used with string concatenation
Line continuation character (_)
Used to break up long line of code into two or
more lines

50
 The ControlChars.Newline
Constant (cont’d.)

Figure 3-37 Modified assignment statement

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 Designating a Default Button
Default button
Button that is activated by pressing Enter key
Button is not required to have the focus
Only one per form
Default button should be button used most
often by the user
Except if button’s task is destructive and
irreversible, such as deleting data
Set form’s AcceptButton property to button
name

52
 Using the ToString Method to
Format Numbers
Formatting: Specifying decimal places and
special characters to display
ToString method is replacing Format
function
Syntax:
variablename.ToString(formatString)
variablename: Name of a numeric variable
formatString: String specifying format you
want to use
format String has form of Axx specifying a
format and precision specifier
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 Figure 3-40
Syntax and examples of the
ToString method

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 Lesson B Summary
Concatenation operator (&)
Used to link strings
InputBox function
Displays interactive dialog box
Use ControlChars.NewLine to move
insertion point to a new line
Set default button in form’s AcceptButton
property
ToString method
Formats number for string output

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 Lesson C Objectives
After studying Lesson C, you should be able
to:
Include a Static variable in code
Code the TextChanged event procedure
Create a procedure that handles more than
one event

56
 Modifying the Load
and Click Event Procedures
Capability needed when each order is
calculated
Order form should ask for the salesperson’s
name
Revise TOE chart before implementing
changes
Shift task of retrieving name to btnCalc’s
Click event
Use static variable for the salesperson’s
name

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 Figure 3-45 Revised TOE chart

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 Modifying the Load
and Click Event Procedures
(cont’d.)

Figure 3-46 Revised Pseudocode for the Calculate Order button

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 Coding the TextChanged
Event Procedure
TextChanged event
Occurs when the Text property value of a
control changes
Can occur when:
The user enters data into the control
Code assigns data to the control’s Text
property
Example:
A change is made to the number of items
ordered

60
 Coding the TextChanged
Event Procedure (cont’d.)
Associating a procedure with different
objects and events
Handles clause
 Appears in an event procedure’s header
 Indicates object and event associated with
procedure
Can associate an event procedure with
more than one object and/or event
In Handles section of procedure header, list
each object and event, separated by commas

61
 Coding the TextChanged
Event Procedure (cont’d.)

Figure 3-48 Completed ClearLabels procedure

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 Figure 3-49
Playtime Cellular application’s code at
the end of Lesson C (continues)

63
 Figure 3-49
Playtime Cellular application’s code
at the end of Lesson C (cont’d.)

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 Lesson C Summary
TextChanged event procedure responds to
change in value of control’s Text Property
Handles clause
Determines which objects and events are
associated with the event procedure
To create procedure for more than one
object or event:
List each object and event after Handles
keyword

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